The Treaty of Tarascon was an accord between

Pope Nicholas IV Pope Nicholas IV ( la, Nicolaus IV; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292), born Girolamo Masci, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be ele ...

, Philip IV of France, Charles II of Naples, and Alfonso III of Aragón that was intended to end the

Aragonese Crusade The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragon, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against King Peter III of Aragon in 1284 and 1285. Because of the recent conquest of Sicily by Peter, Martin declared ...

, an episode in the

War of the Sicilian Vespers The War of the Sicilian Vespers or just War of the Vespers was a conflict that started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. It was fought in Sicily, C ...

. The treaty was signed at

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Taras ...

, halfway between papal Avignon and

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

, on 19 February 1291, six years after Philip's uncle,

Charles of Valois Charles of Valois (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325), the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon, was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, whose rule over France would start in 1 ...

, tried to conquer Aragón from Alfonso's father, Peter III of Aragon, in an event called the

because it was sanctioned by Nicholas' predecessor,

Pope Martin IV Pope Martin IV ( la, Martinus IV; c. 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), born Simon de Brion, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1281 to his death on 28 March 1285. He was the last French pope to have ...

. The intent of the signatories in putting an end to hostilities was to prevent Aragonese domination of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, then ruled by Alfonso's brother, James II. Alfonso was obligated by the treaty to: * go to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in person to have the

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

lifted. * pay a tribute of thirty ounces of gold to the church * carry out a crusade to the Holy Land * remove from Sicily all Aragonese and Catalan knights in the service of James Alfonso also promised that his brother would not hold his kingdom against the wishes of the papacy. He was counselled likewise to make peace with the

king of Castile This is a list of kings and queens of the Kingdom and Crown of Castile. For their predecessors, see List of Castilian counts. Kings and Queens of Castile Jiménez dynasty House of Ivrea The following dynasts are descendants, in the ...

, Sancho IV. The pope, for his part, annulled the investiture of Charles of Valois as king of Aragón and recognised the rights of

James II of Majorca James II ( ca, Jaume) (31 May 1243 – 29 May 1311) was King of Majorca and Lord of Montpellier from 1276 until his death. He was the second son of James I of Aragon and his wife, Violant, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary. In 1279, by the Tre ...

. When Alfonso died a little more than a month after the signing of the treaty, the clauses were rendered null and void, and the treaty meant nothing. His brother Jaime, who had not been a signatory, now united in his person the crowns of Aragon and Sicily and was unwilling to part with either.Rafael Altamira, ''A History of Spain from the Beginnings to the Present Day'', 1966, Volume 1, p. 245f; Joseph F. O'Callaghan, ''A history of Medieval Spain'', 1975, p. 397f. It was superseded by the

Treaty of Anagni {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Treaty of Anagni was an accord between the Pope Boniface VIII, James II of Aragon, Philip IV of France, Charles II of Naples, and James II of Majorca. It was signed on 20 June 1295 at Anag ...

of 1295, brokered by a stronger pope than Nicholas,

Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...

, which ended the struggle on terms that left the Aragonese masters of Sicily.

Notes

See also